The Eye of a Hurricane

Lin

I wanted to cream that John guy who had grabbed Pippa then tried to kiss her. When Pippa had told me what happened, I felt a wave of protectiveness I hadn't known I'd had. As soon as I'd dropped the girls off at school Monday morning, I texted her to see if she was free. She texted back that she was just working at her apartment. I immediately headed over.

When she answered, she was in yoga pants and a little workout tank. She looked incredible. She told me she'd done a morning yoga session at a nearby studio. I immediately wrapped my arms around her like I'd wanted to do last night.

"You okay?" I asked gently.

"I'm fine now," she assured me. I pulled back and searched her face, making sure it would be okay to kiss her. After being grabbed and almost forced to kiss someone, I didn't want to just pounce on her. I let her lean in and then met her lips. She took my hand and let me to go sit on the couch. We sat and she draped her legs over my lap. We just sat there a long time and cuddled. I felt like I could protect her here.

"You know," I began. "You can stay at my place any time. I'm always happy to have you."

"It might be good to stay tonight," she told me. "I'm still a bit freaked out."

"Do you need to get a restraining order?"

She sighed. "Not right now. If he tries anything else, yes. I've already blocked his number and his Twitter. I can't believe he seemed so nice when he was such a jerk."

"Can't take no for an answer," I commented. I squeezed her a little tighter then pressed a kiss to her temple. She smelled so good. Pippa turned her face towards mine and we began kissing. Gently, slowly, at first but soon it heated up. I began to push my body towards hers, guiding her to lay down on the couch. My body was responding and soon we were lost in each other.

___

Afterwards, we sipped tea and just talked. It was nice having this time alone together, not having to worry about the girls. Pippa was always helping out. I'm not sure if I could do it without her and I told her that.

When it was almost 2:30, Pippa headed back to her place for a bit and I went to meet the girls at school. It was Luna's first gymnastics practice. Isabel tagged along. I wanted her to watch to see if she might be interested in trying.

Luna changed into a t-shirt and active shorts and sprang onto the big open floor. The teacher had them all sit in a circle. As they began moving, Luna had a big pep in her step. I could tell she was enjoying herself. However, she had a tendency to get distracted. The teacher was calling her name constantly, but she had to do that with several kids.

Afterwards, she ran off and found her shoes. Isabel and I met her in the lobby.

"How'd you like it?" I asked her.

"It was awesome!" she said as she slipped on her shoes. "Can we stay?"

I chuckled, "No, but you can come back Wednesday. And sometimes they have free play time on Saturdays. If you're a good girl we can come sometimes."

Luna was beyond excited. I held her hand as we walked down the sidewalk so she couldn't run away. Still, she had energy for the park. Isabel pulled out a book and read as her little sister bounced around. Pippa texted that she was heading over so I called Luna.

Pippa offered to cook dinner and I didn't argue. I relaxed on the couch with Luna while I let her watch one show. Isabel holed up with her book in her room. I heard a disgusted sound come from the kitchen.

"Your cooking can't be that bad," I joked.

"No," she said, and I could hear in her voice something was wrong. "It's John again. He texted me from a different number."